


Reflecting Mirror

by tzigane, Zaganthi (Caffiends)



Series: Ashes to Ashes [9]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Stargate Atlantis Fusion, Blow Jobs, Body Horror, Comfort Sex, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Family Dinners, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Parent-Child Relationship, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:54:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23822662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tzigane/pseuds/tzigane, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caffiends/pseuds/Zaganthi
Summary: "After I was forced to execute Lieutenant Colonel Une, I got smashing drunk. After my other Lieutenant Colonel was sentenced for treason, I built the thinking guts to a Gundam. I do things that aren't associated with the moment.""How successful would you feel that approach was as events moved along?" Bedelia queried. "Was it something perfected or has it become more difficult over time?"Treize was starting to feel trapped and uncomfortable, sitting very still in that chair and trying not to feel the pain in his hips. "It's become increasingly difficult as my losses have mounted."
Relationships: Chang Wufei/Treize Khushrenada
Series: Ashes to Ashes [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711870
Kudos: 3





	Reflecting Mirror

Treize was struggling with the idea of attending therapy and had put off going when Wufei and Mariemaia had first started.

He would say it was ridiculous, but Treize had deep seated trauma for good reasons and a habit of ignoring everything until it overflowed. It was like watching a pot boil over, and it didn't seem to help him that Mariemaia and Wufei were also in therapy. Mariemaia needed someone accustomed to pediatrics and Wufei needed one because he was having issues with being followed by paparazzi.

It was creepy. It felt like someone was stalking them all the time, and he now understood what his grandmother meant when she would say that her nerves were overset.

Of course, Treize had no problems with it because he was ridiculous. It was as if he could turn on a filter and pretend they weren't there at all because they didn't matter to him. They had been there all along, on and off, except during the peak of his mech piloting career, ages thirteen to thirty-five, when they had only shown up on the few occasions he'd inserted himself into a family gathering such as a funeral. 

Of course the throw away part of the sentence for Treize was why he needed therapy.

"How are you feeling today?"

Wufei blew out a breath and dropped his head to the back of his chair. "I think if one more weird person appears around a corner and takes a picture of us, I cannot be held accountable for my actions."

Ella looked at him thoughtfully, quietly; he liked her for that because she was calm, even if she happened to be a woman. Sometimes he still had issues there. Meiran had given him a very different sense of what a woman should be. "Walk me through your last encounter with a cameraman. Can you describe it to me?"

Looking up, his brows drew together. "We walked around a corner and a weird guy took a photo of us." He then sighed, closed his eyes, laid his hand over them and apologized. "I'm sorry. That was... We were going for groceries. It should be a simple thing, you get into the car and you go to the shop and you buy biscuits and milk and the things you want to cook for the week. We have someone who brings in casseroles and a few other things, but I still cook. Treize is a master of sandwiches and cannot be trusted with a blender. There was An Incident." Right. Focus. "In any case, we're halfway into the Waitrose when someone was suddenly there, flash and everything. I nearly struck him. Why can't they just take photos from far away?"

"What did your partner do? What did Mariemaia do?" She didn't answer his question, didn't argue a point for him, just made him talk it out, think and frame what was going on. "When the man with the camera appeared and when you nearly struck him."

"Oh, Treize." Ugh. "He's very accustomed to this and finds it... easy? He caught my hand and kept it from ending in a lawsuit. Mariemaia just looked fascinated, because she's very aware that we'll stand between her and... the world, I suppose."

"What do you think causes you to react with anger to them?" Sanity, he wanted to say, because they were close and it was a startling thing, a flash and an interruption in his existence.

That wasn't the point of this. He knew better. "It's sudden and it's shocking and I spent a year in a war. I feel like they should be expecting to be struck when they do things like that. It's... instinctual and angry."

"What would you do if your partner and Mariemaia had not been there?"

"I..." Well. That needed consideration, at least. Would he have hit him? Probably not. He might have had some strong words, because why would anyone want to document someone else's life? It felt ridiculous, and some of the things they'd had to say were horrible. He'd seen a couple of them out when he was on his own, though, and while it made him uncomfortable, his immediate reaction tended to be to turn around and walk away from them. "I probably would have walked away."

He could almost hear her words before she asked them, her voice soft and unchanging. "Why don't you just walk away when you're with your partner and Mariemaia?"

"Because they've had enough bad things. We've all had enough bad things, but Mariemaia is fascinated by the strangeness of it and Treize..." His laugh was dry. "If you told him it was necessary for him to slice open part of himself to save the unicorns, he would have an immediate reaction and he would know that it was a bad idea, but then he might do it anyway because _unicorns_ are important. Never mind that _he_ is important."

He couldn't quite get it to sink into Treize's head and he knew it wasn't going to be a short term project. "What I'm hearing you say, Wufei, is that you are afraid for the continued well being of your partner and Mariemaia. In a generalized sense."

"He makes terrible decisions that are detrimental to him sometimes because of all of the trauma -- not anything that would hurt anyone, I'm not saying that. But sometimes he discounts the cost to himself. I worry. And she was raised by an old man with a bizarre conspiracy fetish who wanted to take over our solar system and had his own private army. Normality is important, and I'm offended that they're taking that away from us."

"And yet in this situation, their reactions are calm, and yours is not," she pointed out gently. "What could you do the next time this happens?"

"I just want to protect them and protect our life. Which means that I need to think before I lose my temper and overreact." Take a deep breath, count to twenty-seven. Or two hundred. "Because it isn't going to help things if I react violently."

"No, it won't. You just said that your partner will put himself in harm's way for other people. You need to consider that group of other people including you as well. What do you think would help you have less anxiety about protecting them?"

Wufei blew out a breath. "I think we need to upgrade the security system and..." Having groceries delivered and never leaving the estate was unreasonable and he knew it. "...and politely request that if they are going to follow us around then they should perhaps not use the flash function as we are both veterans of a war and it is not pleasant. Treize is also talking about making a request to his cousin to go ahead and do an official interview, so perhaps that would mitigate this as well." 

"That would address this specific instance, but I believe your anxiety about their safety is more generalized than that. You've stated clearly why you're anxious, and I am not going to dismiss your concerns as baseless. But if your level of concern is interfering with your life..."

"It isn't, in a day to day sense, I don't think." Aside from the notion of having everything delivered, which probably meant that it was. Damn. "I mean to say that I don't worry when we're at home or when we're among friends. It's..." How to put it? "If the paparazzi find him that interesting, who else does? In what direction should I be looking? There are still people who would gladly kill him as revenge and people who would even more gladly kidnap him as a totem for their own cause. Or kidnap our -- his -- daughter to try and force him to do what they want." Or do the same to Wufei, because it wasn't that the thought hadn't made itself known. It had, but that was his to handle, and he should probably talk about it to Treize because ugh. Right. Ella had a point about that, too. "Home is safe. I know the security systems there and I know where my weapons are. It's our territory, my territory. I can't..." He paused. "It isn't baseless or unreasonable and I know you aren't dismissing it. I usually see clearly and something about this situation makes it very difficult for me to see the right choices and actions to make things all right in the end."

"How do you think you might be able to get to the point with this situation where you can make the kinds of decisions you want to?"

"I have to stop worrying about what's around every corner." That much was true. The how was the hard part. "And I can't get into a habit of avoiding things that trigger it because I need to incorporate that with our everyday life. I'm just going to have to get used to people doing this weird stalking thing and look out for actual threats instead of perceived ones." And meditate more often, maybe. "Try to stay grounded instead of spiraling out in a wave of what if. I can't control their actions, I can only control mine."

Ella smiled slightly, a gentle expression. "Mr. Chang, if more patients came here this self aware, it would be a very quick week. Let's talk through some practice exercises, if you're ready?"

Ready or not, they'd just have to manage. He nodded. "Let's get started."

* * *

The room was quite lovely, in its way, Mariemaia thought. There were a number of things on a table meant to be fidgeted with, and art supplies, and even a stack of books in the corner although she didn't think any of them were quite on her reading level at a glance. Mostly she came in and fiddled with the art supplies because it seemed to be expected.

"How are you feeling this week?" the woman asked, coming in and taking a seat beside her, crouched down at the table with her.

Mariemaia thought about it. "Okay, I guess. I fed the fish this morning, and I'll feed the swans later this afternoon. Father and Wufei and I had appointments today, though. Father made a face about it, but Wufei told him to behave because it was good for us." She picked up one of the colored pencils and began to draw the fish in the pond.

The woman chuckled softly. "How do you feel about the house? And living with your father and Wufei?"

"It's lovely." Reaching out, she found a pretty orange and began to doodle a fishtail. "We read together and Father always answers any question I ask. And Wufei and I found a priest hole! He told me about them and why they were there. So every day is a pretty good day, I think. I get to go outside and everything isn't planned all the time. And we made cookies yesterday, too. Father's were lumpier than mine around the edges." She thought about it for a moment. "I like it lots better than with Grandfather."

"How was living with your grandfather?"

Mariemaia felt her mouth twist unhappily. "Boring. Grandfather was...." She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Sometimes we say 'I don't know' when what you want to say or what you're feeling makes you uncomfortable," the woman said, picking up a crayon. "Does thinking about your grandfather make you uncomfortable?"

"Grandfather didn't like Father very much, I don't think." She delved into the bucket and came up with a pale blue pencil and began to color in the water around her fish. "He kept Father in a medical room, and the people there weren't very nice. I had to sneak in to see him, but then Wufei came and Father got better and Wufei started teaching me to fight. With Grandfather, it was all diplomacy and history and boring stuff. And..." She hesitated. "He wasn't unkind, exactly. But it wasn't..."

"But it wasn't?" the woman repeated, pressing with her voice while she started to draw a tree while she sat beside Mariemaia. It was all brown bits and branches.

Mariemaia kept coloring in her pond for a bit. "Grandfather wanted me to rule the world. Father and Wufei say they only want me to be happy, and they teach me fun things. It's not that I didn't love Grandfather, or that I'm not sad he's gone. Sometimes I'm very sad, because I miss him even though I'm happier with Father and Wufei."

"What do you miss about him? And what do you think happened to your grandfather?"

She had to think about it for a bit. "I don't know. Maybe I just miss him because he was always there?" She found a gold pencil and began to add touches of it to her fish. "I think Grandfather did something bad, and Wufei had to stop him."

"Does it bother you that Wufei... stopped him?" There was a hesitation there, like she wanted to say a word and didn't, and Mariemaia knew what the word was.

"Maybe a little, at first. It was scary when we left and we had to hurry so I didn't get to pack all of my things." She added another dot of gold and then found a pencil to draw rocks and another for grass. Hopefully, Dr. Anna would add some to her brown tree, too. "But Father says Wufei's a protector. That making you safe is how he cares about you. So I don't think it really does. It just means that he loves me, right?" She looked up at the woman sitting beside her. "I think that's right."

She picked up another crayon, a different green, and looked thoughtfully at Mariemaia. "Everyone expresses love differently, and that is one way to express love, yes. How do you think your father expresses love to you?"

"Father answers my questions and he hugs me when I'm sad and he tries to hide when he's hurting." Mariemaia added another rock and considered the matter. "Father is just... he's _there_. And I know if I need something, I only have to ask. It's not like with Grandfather, where I was only allowed this or that or not any of those."

"I see." Mariemaia wasn't sure she did see, but that was fine. "What things were you not allowed by your grandfather?"

"Just things." She began drawing in the grass. "If I didn't do well in ordering the soldiers, he would take my favorite book or send me to bed without supper. That happened a lot. And I didn't have dolls. Wufei thought that was strange, but I wasn't allowed them. I know other girls had them, but Grandfather said it would make me soft."

"Do you agree with that?" She was adding leaves, one by one.

For a long moment, Mariemaia sat and thought about it. "No. I had one when I was little, before my mother died. When I was five, Grandfather said I couldn't have it anymore. I still have my favorite blanket. It's small, and I had to hide it in case he thought I shouldn't have it. It's one of the things I brought when we came to Earth."

"Mmm." She added a few more green leaves. "How are you feeling about going back to school?"

"Excited, I think?" It was partially a question for many reasons. "I've never really been to school before, not with other kids. I had tutors when I lived with Grandfather, and I was allowed access to his library." She thought about it for a bit, adding more grass around a rock. "Maybe a little scared. It's new."

"What are you most scared of about going to school?" She kept drawing, glancing at Mariemaia occasionally.

Sighing, Mariemaia laid down her pencil. "What if they think I'm weird? Or I say something that's wrong because Earth is different? I don't want to be the weird one."

"One way not to be the weird one is to believe very firmly that you're not weird." She was smiling at Mariemaia. "Or that everyone is secretly weird. Very weird."

There was no way to keep from laughing. "I think I like that one. Everyone is secretly very weird. Even you?"

"Oh yes. Yes. I'm very weird. I collect stuffed rabbits." She lifted her eyebrows. "I even make them."

"Ohhhh. May I have one?" Mariemaia thought Wufei would be proud if she asked for a stuffed animal, and it would be nice to have something cuddly and soft. Better than a doll.

"You absolutely can have one. I'll bring it to our next session." She seemed delighted. "But that's weird, isn't it? Everyone has something about them that's weird, and sometimes people bully other people for their weirdness because they feel ashamed of their own weirdness or because they're jealous."

"Huh." Pausing to think about that seemed impossible for the moment because she was going to get a stuffed rabbit. "So Wufei and Father are right. Just be myself and do what makes me happy." That seemed like something she could handle.

"Yes. But that's not easy, and you have the right to argue with your father and Wufei, you know that? I don't know if you ever argued with your grandfather, but you should be able to talk and disagree with them."

That hadn't occurred to her, mostly because she hadn't been allowed to disagree with Grandfather. "Really?" Of course, she couldn't remember having wanted to argue with Father or Wufei. They spent most of their time at home. Sometimes Wufei worked in his office, and sometimes Father planned things in the library, but mostly they were in the kitchen or the Green Diamond Room, and they read and did interesting things.

"Really. I'm not saying that you need to argue with them just to argue, but if they suggest something and you want to disagree, please do. It's healthy. Do they ever disagree with each other?"

"I think sometimes? But they don't fight about things, I don't think. Or if they do, they don't do it when I'm watching." Probably they disagreed, right? People did that. "Grandfather mostly yelled at people until they did what he wanted."

"That is certainly a technique," she said, adding a few more leaves to her tree. "What do you think?"

Sitting down her pencil, Mariemaia picked up her drawing. She was satisfied with it, she thought, and she could take it with her if she wanted or leave it if she liked. There were choices in this room, and choices living with Father and Wufei. She could do as she liked, mostly. Wufei was more likely to say no than Father in the beginning, but the one time she had asked her father if she could do something Wufei would have said no to, she'd fallen and scraped her leg. Neither of them had yelled at her, or even each other, she didn't think. Father's face had been worried and a little guilty, though, as if saying yes made it his fault somehow when it was just rotten wood going up into the old tree house and it needed repairing. "I think yelling is more upsetting. I like that we don't yell and fight."

"Good. Now you know that about yourself. You have a preference. You prefer for people not to yell and fight." She said that very firmly, like it was something Mariemaia needed to remember.

"I do," Mariemaia agreed, sitting back and supporting her weight on both of her hands. "Do you think Father and Wufei are almost done? I'm hungry. Wufei says my legs are hollow. I think he thinks it's funny."

"Well, let's go out and see if at least Wufei is done, and if not we can get you some animal crackers while we wait..."

* * *

He had agreed to attend therapy out of curiosity because Wufei believed that it worked and because he was attempting to model good behavior for Mariemaia. Which was how he had ended up sitting stiffly, carefully in a chair, facing off with a woman around his same age. Dorothy had cleared the practice as being top notch and said that he was allowed to be as honest with them as he was interested in being.

"Please make yourself comfortable," the therapist said, gesturing rather elegantly to the jug of water in front of them both on a low table. "I would suggest the couch but I find people believe that a little forward at the first session. My name is Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier. I would be very honored if you called me Bedelia if you feel comfortable. May I ask how you would prefer to be addressed?"

Not as 'His Excellency'. "Treize is sufficient. I have mobility challenges, so this chair is quite good, Dr. Du Maurier." Better than fine, and he wasn't going to lean forward because his hips were aching and his left wrist was on the edge of spasm. He could drop things to his heart's content when they all went home.

"Thank you, Treize," she said smiling slightly at him. "Everything we say here is completely confidential between us, the only exception being anything that I would have to report under safeguarding laws. Now the formal part is done, I am going to ask you what you hope to get out of therapy and why you believe you are here?"

He was silent for a moment, looking at her. She was rather unreadable, which was good. It wouldn't distract him as much. "My partner is concerned that I have had a traumatic life, and he would like to mitigate that to the highest degree possible. I'm less concerned by that, and more troubled by an ongoing sense of disconnection and horror at my own body. I can't articulate it well and I don't want to burden him with it."

"Do you feel that you have had a traumatic life yourself?" she asked.

He managed a smile, reflecting for a moment. "It doesn't matter. I've done what I needed to do to keep going forward, to bring about this new strange peace. 101,188 soldiers died in 195, between OZ, White Fang, the Alliance and the colonies. I didn't count the civilians, the economic fallout, the L5 colony that self-destructed. I..." He had the thought and he could finish it, it was right there. "I don't think I have any right."

She didn't push, but he could see her noting his reply. "Your relationship with your body, can I ask how often you experience the sensations intrusive enough to trouble you?

"On a good day, four or five times a day. I try to distract myself or stop what I'm doing and perform a grounding exercise. Where is everything, where am I, acknowledge the sensations I'm feeling. It may last all day on a particularly bad day. I can't get it under control on those days, I can't function. My nerves fray." 

"When you say that you feel disconnected from your body," Bedelia asked, her manner completely calm and accepting, "how do you experience that?"

"I..." He had tried to articulate it before and he hadn't managed it. "I have a lot of pain and I don't always feel everything kinesically. I can't feel my left hand unless I'm looking at it at any time. I see and remember my injuries, and it makes the unreality worse. Some part of me still feels that I've never healed at all." 

She nodded slowly. "I believe that is a crucial point you have made there, one that we will examine in depth in later sessions. Now, considering your background, you have experienced a great deal of trauma in your life. How would you describe your usual method of getting through intensely stressful and traumatic experiences?"

He reflected on the most recent horrors that stuck in his mind; on having to execute Une, because she deserved nothing less than hands on. On his brother's assassination, his mother's, the mission to L5, L3, his first raid which had gone so amazingly wrong, breaking atmo all wrong...

And then everything that had happened on X18999. "I distract myself."

"In what way?" Bedelia asked pouring a glass of water for herself from the jug and drinking some of it.

"After I was forced to execute Lieutenant Colonel Une, I got smashing drunk. After my other Lieutenant Colonel was sentenced for treason, I built the thinking guts to a Gundam. I do things that aren't associated with the moment."

"How successful would you feel that approach was as events moved along?" Bedelia queried. "Was it something perfected or has it become more difficult over time?"

He was starting to feel trapped and uncomfortable, sitting very still in that chair and trying not to feel the pain in his hips. "It's become increasingly difficult as my losses have mounted."

"Would it help if you moved around, Treize?" Bedelia suggested calmly. "I see you are in some discomfort."

"No. I'm just..." He closed his eyes, and inhaled slowly, and was completely unable not to think about the retractor shoved into that wound, stretching it wide. He slipped his right hand down to press over it as if that would stifle it. "Actively struggling. Have been all day."

"Focus on my voice, Treize, turn your attention away from that memory to that of your partner. Create in your mind's eye an image of one aspect of their face. Their eye, their lips, their nose. Imagine it in as clear detail as you can. Think of the color, the way light touches that element you are recalling." Her voice lapped over him soothing and compelling.

He could do that. Wufei was embedded in his mind, and he focused very clearly on the quirk of Wufei's mouth in the morning, soft, expressive, relaxed. Just a faintly red flushed caramel. "Okay."

"Imagine it as fully realized in your senses as possible," she said in a hypnotic lilt. "Imagine your own hand reaching to touch what you have imagined, or close to what you have imagined. Feel the texture of skin beneath your fingers, the lightness of pressure and feel relaxation flow from that touch into your own body."

He swallowed, and drifted mentally, following out that thought, imagined the soft way that Wufei's lip tugged beneath his thumb, damp and familiar. Another inhalation and the anxiety was easing out of the pain. "Yes, that's better..."

"Just linger on that a moment, take time to really experience the memory," Bedelia encouraged softly. "Try to engage sound if possible, or another sense such as touch." She let him just… be for while, looking in detail at a harmless comforting memory. He expanded it and it became Wufei lounging on the bed, sprawled out beneath him while he kissed him, toyed at those lips with his mouth, made him moan quietly. It was where he wanted to be again that evening, where he would be again.

"That's good," Bedelia encouraged. "Now hold onto that feeling and slowly come back to this room allowing that sensation to linger. It is allowable to feel pleasure and comfort." She was waiting as he opened his eyes again. "How are you feeling?"

Relieved. "Better. Less likely to end up curled up on your floor weeping," he noted dryly. He let his hand ease down a little to rest on his thigh, fingers loose. "If I'd been at home, I would have gone and sat with my partner until it... eased a little."

"The mental version is as effective and serves to lesson the cycle of dissociation," she said. "Now, I'd like to try some simple word association. Don't overthink your answer, just say what comes into your head. There is no wrong answer. So, here we go... black?"

"White."

Simple enough.

"Apple."

"Pear." He wasn't sure what it was going to tell her, but he would play along. No reason not to, because it had been getting worse.

"Space."

"Beauty."

"Love."

"Home."

It was the only place where there was a sense of either of those things.

"Sword."

"Glory."

"Hand."

"Broken." That was something he just couldn't seem to get off of his mind, no matter how many times he tried.

"Computer."

"ZERO system."

He had to give her credit, she didn't even pause before she asked, "Enemy."

"Me."

She stopped at that point. "Now I would just like you to complete some of the following basic tools of the psychiatrist's trade. It establishes a baseline of responses against which we can measure progress. I'm afraid some of them can feel a little cliched but they should be easy enough to complete. Then we will discuss our way forward." She passed over from a drawer behind her some sheets of paper like a survey and a pen. "Feel free to ask questions if you would like."

"Mmm. Thank you." He scanned the sheets of paper, about mood and interest and activity level, and started to fill them in. That it wasn't being immediately correlated in a datapad almost felt like security, so he answered them honestly. There was no point in attending the sessions and not trying his best to comply. It was quick to fill out, all in all.

Bedelia had occupied herself with a notepad of her own, but a rather archaic pen and paper version. Oddly, he found that settling as he worked his way through the sheets, the inkblots and the questions about what medication he was taking, his most significant life changes recently, and so on. He completed the battery of tests and put it down.

"Ah, good," Bedelia said, glancing over them and looking back at him. "Do you wish me to talk about the initial findings of our discussion or would you prefer to just progress through treatment?"

Filling out the most significant life changes part was lengthy, and frustrating, and probably all important. "I like to know what's going on," he admitted wryly. "And then I'd like to progress through treatment."

"From what you have told me today," Bedelia said. "I believe you have a dissociative disorder, specifically a type categorized as a form of Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder. Your most successful coping strategy in stressful points has been to utilize methods that distance yourself from the memory or actions involved. As time has gone on, the strain of this has begun exerting its own level of pressure. However, the trigger trauma is related to your body, and the intensity of your subconscious impulse to push it away and distance yourself has had this psychological effect of disconnection at a clinical level."

"Ah. Well, it was a lovely coping technique while it worked," he half joked, shifting slightly and leaning on his right elbow. He could look it up and sort through any other implications of that later. "I can't take painkillers to control the pain because of a medical problem. How do I keep this from spiraling out of control?"

"The principal treatment plan involves psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy," she said. "Ordinarily, I would have prescribed a mild relaxant, but I suspect your current medical condition would have issues with that. Cognitive behavioral therapy will examine your body's pain response. It would appear it is conditioned to react to trauma and put pain receptors on full alert at a moment's provocation. CBT will normalize the response."

"All right, I'm very interested in anything that can help. I've had mentally ill partners. I... don't want to put Wufei through that. I'm exhausted putting myself through it." And if putting himself purposefully through the grinder once a week or every other week was what it took, that was fine. It would be worth it not to wonder when everything would come creeping up on him the next time.

"Good. I will examine your information and come up with a strategy," she told him. "In the meantime, before our next session, I want you to practice doing the exercise you did to calm down your responses but vary your point of focus with different examples. Do not wait until you feel something happening, do it at least once a day. You are building up a mental muscle just as you would a physical one."

"All right. It's a rather enjoyable mental exercise, as far as mental exercises go." He smiled. "And the uh. Cataloging trick I've been doing, does that make it worse or...? Sometimes it seems to help, but if there's a better way to do it, I'm interested."

"Continue it for now, we will see at a later date," she advised. "You also will need to keep a journal. The very act of writing it down helps but I specifically would like you to record the incidents of dissociation, if something significant occurred that day, your emotional state and dreams."

It wasn't as if he had anything else more pressing to do.

"I'll do that, then." Pen and paper, even, a rare novelty that he supposed he could give in to. His handwriting was terrible. "Thank you for your time today, Dr. Du Maurier."

"A pleasure to meet you." She smiled a little. "I have full confidence that we can make significant progress through therapy, especially as you are so determined to be well."

"We'll see how it goes." He stood up slowly, and stayed standing for a long moment, letting the feeling settle until he felt he could walk steadily again. He offered his hand. "Thank you. I'll make another appointment with your assistant."

And then it was time to go.

* * *

"Do you think Father is all right?" Mariemaia asked.

Her hand was in his because they had crossed the street. The therapists' office was a couple of blocks behind them, but not so far that they couldn't turn around and return quickly if necessary. "I think that he will be. Sometimes therapy is hard work, and it takes more time."

They would tell Treize where they had gone, and he would hopefully call. He didn't want Treize to feel abandoned, but he also didn't want Mariemaia to sit there and grow more anxious. "What do you talk to your therapist about?"

"Things like the cameraman at the grocery store and how it startles me when they show up like that. It doesn't seem to bother your father nearly as much. What did you talk about today?" They came to a stop at the pedestrian walk and waited for the light to change.

"Hmn, school and grandpa," she said lightly, swinging his hand. "I'm worried about school but it's much better here."

"Earth is nice, isn't it?" It was very different for someone born and raised on a colony. Earth was beautiful, and sometimes he wondered if the people who were born there truly understood how much so. "School starts in a month or so. We'll have to go out and get some uniforms pretty soon."

"What do they look like?" She wouldn't be happy if they weren't slightly eye bleeding, and he was simultaneously grateful that they were indeed understated and boring. Boring and blending in was good.

"Pleated skirts and white shirts and grey vests, I think." The light changed. Wufei glanced in both directions and they began walking, hands still swinging. "So none of your favorite colors, probably."

"Hmph. Are the shoes uniform, too?" Oh she was looking for a loophole, that was heartening, and scary. She seemed relaxed and calm after her session, and that... was good.

She was definitely her father's daughter, though. "I don't actually know, so I guess we'll have to call and find out, won't we? Maybe we'll get lucky and find out that shoelaces aren't required to be uniform." Turning a bit to the right, he reached for the door of the small bakery and opened it, allowing her to enter first. "So what do you think your father would like?"

"Hmn." She moved to center herself right in front of the counter. "Chocolate and fruit. Fancy things." She waved a hand in pretty fair mimicry of her father's occasionally loose dismissive gesture. "And a coffee?"

"And what do you want?" Probably something fluffy, if he knew her. He liked encouraging her when she chose something to her own taste, even if it ended with his retinas begging for relief.

"Icing. The crunchy kind." She was moving to look at some hideous piled on tiny cake with lime green and pink icing. "And milk."

Right, then.

He bought three of the blinding tiny cakes for her as well as a number of raspberry tarts and chocolate almond croissants to take home. After a moment of thought, he added a few petit fours and cookies as well as milk for Mariemaia and coffee for himself and Treize.

Treize would enjoy sitting with a coffee and something sweet. The shop was nice, comfortable, and he didn't mind sitting inside or outside, but perhaps inside was better while they waited. "Where do you want to sit?"

Mariemaia held her milk and Treize's coffee. "I think we could walk back and sit on the bench they have with the grass and flowers. It's closer to the office, and so maybe Father would like for us to be closer since he had an extra long appointment?"

"I think you're right. Are you okay holding your milk and his coffee that far?"

She was a very good child, thoughtful. "Yes, I am." And Treize enjoyed the green spaces, trees and gardens, in a way that he wouldn't have expected of the man until he spent time with him in Luxembourg.

The walk back was nice enough -- calm, the weather warm for Bath, in the low to mid twenties, the sun shining. Hopefully Treize wouldn't come out of therapy a wreck, but considering how long it was taking, Wufei wasn't placing any bets.

It was his first session, so Wufei had been hoping it would be short, but... maybe that had been too much to hope. The bench was comfortable, and there was room to place their goodies without anything falling apart. Mariemaia sat on the right side, and swung her feet as she began to devour her pink and lime green cake.

"So do you still like Dr. Anna?" he asked, pulling out one of the raspberry tarts.

"Yes. She's not very good at drawing, though. She just drew a tree with leaves, and she needed grass and the sky." She sighed, and took a sip of her milk. "She said I shouldn't worry about being weird. Are you weird, Wufei?"

He didn't bother trying not to laugh. "Oh, I'm definitely weird. Everyone is in some way or another, I think. Anyone who isn't at least a little weird probably leads a very sad life because they're trying so hard to be like everyone else, only no one else is just plain normal. Better to be the weird one and enjoy life. You and your father eat pizza with a fork and knife, yes? Definitely not something most people do, but you like to do it that way so I think you should do as you like."

"Father has fancy manners," she countered. Yes, that was indeed one phrase for it. "Because. And it's fun to try."

"You're right, he does have fancy manners, and it is fun to try." Reaching out, Wufei gave a faint ruffle at the back of her head, and was unsurprised at the face she made at him. "I know, I know."

"What do you know, Wufei?" Fingers landed on the back of his shoulder, and Treize leaned over the bench to kiss the top of Mariemaia's head. "Sorry that took so long."

He looked a bit ragged at the edges. "I know that she hates it when I ruffle her hair, but she lets me do it anyway. Coffee?"

"Yes, please." He moved around the bench to sit on the left side, and nudged the extra box aside a little with his left hand. "How was your session, Mariemaia?"

Her mouth was full of cake, so she chewed and then swallowed before answering. "I like her, but she draws trees all wrong."

"And," Wufei added, "we've decided it's okay to be weird." He leaned into Treize and rubbed their shoulders together gently.

"Good." Treize leaned into him, closing his eyes for a brief moment as he settled in. "Because I don't believe I could stop being weird if I wanted to." Later, once they were home, he'd get Treize to talk about his sessions.

That seemed to delight her beyond all measure. "How are you weird, Father? You're fancy!" Apparently that was going to be her word of the day, and Wufei handed Treize his coffee, careful to put it in his right hand.

"We have raspberry tarts and chocolate almond croissants," he offered. "And petit fours and cookies. Possibly going to the bakery when we still haven't eaten lunch wasn't my smartest choice."

"Or possibly it was an excellent choice." He went for a croissant, holding onto it a little tight, but since it was light and airy, Wufei didn't think it would end up dropped. "Hmn, how am I weird, Wufei?"

"More like how aren't you weird? Let's see...." For a moment, he pretended to think. "There are your fancy manners, of course, which Mariemaia and I were just describing. There's your obsession with putting shampoo in your own glass bottles instead of just keeping it in the bottle t comes in. Hmmm..."

He gave a very quiet, very genuine laugh, and then took a bite of the croissant. "I can't argue that. I definitely can't argue that. But your hair has never looked better..."

Compliments were always nice to get, so he leaned in and stole a single soft kiss, lingering, sweet with chocolate, bitter with coffee. It was a nice mix. "Hm. Do we need anything else while we're out or should we go home now?"

"Oh!" Mariemaia perked up, rising and clasping her hands before her. "Dr. Anna collects stuffed bunnies and makes them. She's going to bring me one!"

"That is very nice of her." Wufei was glad she worked with the school he had been coordinating with. It would make explaining everything -- their concerns, their hopes -- much easier. It was just the one year at that school before she moved on to the next grade level and a new school entirely, but it would help for her to have people who knew everything. Who were watching.

Who cared, because he was fairly certain her grandfather hadn't given two damns about her unless she could get him one step closer to universal overlordship. That was definitely a change in her life, and probably in Treize's, too. Wufei had never had to think about how lucky he was to have such a close knit family and clan, people who thought ahead to how he would live after they were gone. People who loved him, and he wanted them to have that, too. He wanted to share that experience and keep sharing it for a long time.

By the time Treize had polished off his croissant and drank a bit more coffee, it seemed like a natural time to go home. Back to the safety of the manor and the warm sunshine of the back gardens, and perhaps he could help Treize start to eyeball his workshop space. He'd left the calendar clear in case something went poorly, so it was as good a time as any.

Besides. He'd already seen the things Treize had lined up to order.

"So," Wufei began once the pastries had been put away in the kitchen. "I was thinking that maybe it's time to start building up the workshop. You look like you might be more interested in tinkering again."

"Hmn, I was just thinking the same thing. The weather will start to turn, which puts the garden somewhat out of commission." Treize leaned against the kitchen counter, expression soft and thoughtful as he watched Wufei.

It was nice, the feel of it, the fact that someone loved him enough to look at him that way. "And we should get some things for Mariemaia to use, too. Things for her to learn to build, because she'll want to, watching us."

"I'm not sure she has an interest, but I'd like to try. There's toy making as well, smaller but... or cars. God knows I have enough half abandoned hulks that could use a retool."

There, that was a great idea. "You can plan toy making when you get to the advanced lessons." And it was settled. "I'm sure you have a list of stuff that you're already planning on buying or transferring here from somewhere else." Pausing, he listened. Mariemaia had gone out to feed the swans and roam the gardens. He could see her through the back window, and she wouldn't go out of sight. "How did your session go? It ran long so I just wanted to be sure you're all right."

"It went well." And if he stopped there, Wufei was going to be very tempted to strangle him, but often Treize took his time in saying things. "She suggested I probably have Depersonalisation-Derealization Disorder. I need to do some reading, but it doesn't seem off the mark."

Huh. That sounded interesting, Wufei thought. "I'll do some reading, too. Did you like her? Were you comfortable?"

"I like her. She's very blunt. I wasn't comfortable at first, because of my damn hip." He rubbed the knuckles of his right hand against the bone because it was grounding, Wufei knew. "I started... to disassociate while we were talking. She gave me a new mental exercise to try to stop it. I believe it will be overall very useful."

Moving in, Wufei straddled him, sitting down lightly atop his thighs with most of his weight balanced on his own feet. "Hmmm. I wish we could figure out something to do to help with that."

"Could probably spend the next six months in the workshop trying to fix nanites, easily. I don't know how long it will take." Wufei knew he was getting accustomed to the lingering injuries, the things the Bartons and their friends had inflicted on him that had made everything worse. Treize had described it before, or tried to, saying he didn't feel like the new parts were real, that he could sometimes imagine the old injuries, that the pain drove him out of his mind sometimes. Disassociating seemed like a good word for what was going on.

Leaning down, Wufei placed a kiss on his forehead, on the tip of his nose, on his mouth. "Mhmm. I want to compare the programming for yours with the programming for mine. See what we can do that might help."

"Yes. Yes. Let's try that this week." He was under no illusion that it wasn't going to take time, but. They had time. Treize slipped a hand down to Wufei's ass, and smiled at him. "Are you going to go back to school this fall?"

"I thought about it, but no. Next fall, perhaps. We want to work with the nanites and Mariemaia is starting school." He hesitated a moment. "Meredith sent me a message. Just checking in, not expecting anything."

Treize had no bodily reaction to that. No tell, nothing, and Wufei expected, perhaps, tension or jealousy. He needed to add that to the list the next time Mariemaia asked how her father was weird. "Ah? Is he well?"

"Yes. I think he just wanted to be sure that I made it back in one piece. He asked after you, actually, and Mariemaia. It was awkward, but in that way Meredith is usually awkward, where he doesn't quite know what to say or how to say it but he feels social pressure to ask anyway." Wufei had kind of enjoyed that, actually.

"We should invite him to dinner." It was a genuine offer, easily said. "I owe him my gratitude, both for treating you well, and for being an unwitting tip off." 

The idea of them both in the same room did something funny to Wufei's chest. He wasn't sure if that feeling might be jealousy or horror or something more like horniness. He wasn't going to contemplate it, either. Not right now, anyway. "We do owe everyone a dinner party. Quatre gave the last one." Treize was unusual in his lack of jealousy. Meiran would have wanted Meredith's head in a bucket.

Then again, he had all but accused Treize of needing orgies on a regular basis, when all the man seemed to need was someone who wanted to stay up late and finish the last chapter of a book while he dozed with his head in one's lap. 

And occasionally, a little rougher play.

"Yes, will you reach out to him, and we'll plan a day? It feels so strange to just... drop a note to a former Gundam pilot. I feel they ought to have better things to do. Your Meredith as well."

Most of them did, Wufei supposed. After all, most of them were a part of the Preventers peace keeping corp these days, even Quatre. His sister Irina was currently serving as head of the Winter family holdings. "You're responsible for inviting your cousin and Relena," he bargained.

He exhaled hard, and leaned in, turning his head and leaning to kiss the side of Wufei's neck. "If I invite Dorothy, she likely won't come. But she will take it as a sign to put me out on the diplomatic circuit."

Wufei dropped his head back and hummed. That was his favorite place. "Are you ready for that?"

"No." The one thing he had asked was that Treize be honest with him, and he had been. Widely, sometimes brutally honest. "If I do invite her I'll say as much. Seclusion is suiting me."

At least for a while longer. "Me, too. I suspect it might continue to suit me so long as you're here with me like this." He had plenty of time to monitor investments and make sure things were in order. School had been interesting, and he had learned a lot of new things. Nothing could compare to the contentment that filled him right now, though, the pleasure in the moment and the company. That was more important than people gave it credit for being. 

Being alive and present was important. 

He heard the back door close just as Treize was kissing up toward his earlobe, and heard the huff from Mariemaia. "Gross."

And what was there to do but bury his head against Treize's shoulder and laugh?

* * *

There were two ways to throw dinner parties; the kind where one planned and did all the work themselves, and the kind where one hired a caterer to come and to bring in well-cleared waitstaff. The first was apparently all kinds of stress, and the second meant he could take his time putting on a good suit while sampling a rather good vodka cocktail.

"You're ridiculous." Well, yes, but that was nothing new, and Wufei seemed pleased when he said it. "And I'm grateful for it."

He brushed off the front of his own nicely tailored black suit pants, and set the glass on the side table while he buttoned up the asymmetrical vest. He had on a silvery cravat, mostly because it made Wufei's mouth go up and down parallel to his eyebrows, in mild confusion and a sort of pleased something. "I am completely ridiculous, and you look lovely." A very light, fine grey suit and white shirt, no tie and a closed collar, it looked clean and un-severe at the same time.

The faint flush on his cheeks was delightful. "You look like I desperately want to unbutton all of those buttons and rip off your cravat." Yes, there was that gleam in his eyes, and if he didn't want to appear perfectly pressed, he would encourage that.

Perhaps he should encourage it anyway.

He offered Wufei a sip of his drink instead of leaning in for a kiss, and snagged his jacket deftly. He'd been getting back in shape, getting back to himself in a lot of ways. The diary helped, though he hadn't identified a trigger pattern yet, and using the treadmill every morning for a couple of miles of jogging had helped his head somewhat. Having assigned daily time to fantasize about fucking his partner and all of his wonderful body parts wasn't bad, either. "Once everyone goes home, I promise I will fuck you deep into the mattress. Because I will have watched you enjoying yourself with friends all evening."

Ah, and the way he looked when Treize said that, reaching down to adjust himself, was magnificent. "But first I'm blowing you in the main hall the second everyone walks out of the house."

His balls ached, and the pants were just close enough to tight that it could be problematic. "Hmn, the suit's that good?" He did lean in to kiss him. "Mariemaia nicely ensconced in her room for the evening?"

"The suit is definitely that good," Wufei murmured against his lips. "And yes. She's well stuffed with pizza, she has three new books and her rabbit. I think we can safely check on her around nine or ten and we'll find that she's fallen asleep."

"Excellent." They had a good balance, he felt, even as his mind wandered a little to the vivid idea of Wufei on his knees, lips parted slightly, in that suit... Oh yes, that was going to be his good thought for the evening. "I'll have one last chat with the staff, and then people should be here shortly."

"Mhm." Answered easily, and when Wufei stepped away, it was reluctantly. "I'll check on Mari once more and then be down. Just to be sure."

Yes, Treize acknowledged, he was much more of the benign neglect school of thought than Wufei was.

He took his time going down the stairs, checked with the staff, cocktail glass still in hand, took a deep breath, and exhaled. It was a terrible idea, and it would be fine. It wasn't as if he hadn't faced significantly more terrifying prospects in his life. Including staring down Wufei in a mobile suit.

A dinner party didn't come close to approaching that level of terror.

He was still sipping his cocktail in the Green Diamond Room (so named because at one point the mullioned windows had apparently been filled with green glass, although not at any point in Treize's lifetime) when the front doorbell sounded.

Wufei's last boyfriend was rather good looking. Sandy blond hair, a nicely squared jaw, wide expressive mouth and rather heavy eyebrows over blue eyes. A three piece suit with a terrible four-in-hand knotted tie. "Mr. McKay, excellent to finally meet you." He stepped back to let him in, and didn't see anyone coming up behind him on a quick scan.

The way that chin notched upwards immediately was delightful. "Uh, I'm... not sure what to call you? General or Mister or.... yes. Well."

"Treize. Treize is fine." He set his cocktail down, and extended his hand to the man. Treize definitely liked his fire, and couldn't help as the smile he was wearing turned from easy and polite to genuinely delighted. "I believe I owe you my thanks."

Meredith reached out and took his hand, giving a firm shake that bordered on too firm. "It was... well, not my pleasure, because honestly, given my choice, I obviously wouldn't have single-handedly managed to end a relationship that I greatly enjoyed, I'm sure you understand that part, in any case. It wasn't on purpose, but once I saw how he looked at the video, well."

He stepped back, and thank god there was the wait staff looking for an excuse to circulate, offering him a drink. "He mentioned you were an engineering student. How far along in your studies are you?"

"Uh, thank, thank you, is this, it doesn't have any lemon in it, does it? Because I am deathly allergic to..."

"Limoncello vodka -- you know what, come with me," he said over his shoulder, gesturing for the man to follow him down the hall and into his study. He was rather glad it was suspiciously bright yellow. "I have some rather good whiskey."

"Oh. Oh, that's good." That seemed to calm him for the moment, and Meredith fell in behind him, looking around as they went. "This place is huge. I'll bet it's hell to heat in the winter. I'm doing a double PhD, engineering and physics. I might pick up another one later, I'm debating what it should be. I'm mostly done with physics, so I might as well squeeze in another."

He brushed open the door to his own study, and turned on the light. "That's ambitious. Have you thought of where you'll work?" It was easy to grab two glasses and rummage through his better whiskeys before pouring Meredith a larger glass than he had.

"Probably government sector, there have been a lot of programs trying to seduce me into their niches. I haven't decided, I just like science. Thank you." Meredith took the glass and eyed it suspiciously before taking a sip. "Mmmm, that's quite good." He paused and his mouth went funny and crooked. "Is he happy?"

"Yes." He took a sip of his own, too, to prove it wasn't poison. "Yes, he is. I try to make sure I don't make him unhappy."

Meredith was nodding his head, the motion a little jerky. "That's good. That's great, that's..." His shoulders dropped a little, as if the tension had gone out of them. "When he saw it, I was just sharing some conspiracy theory. Had no idea, and he went pale and I knew who he was then. I mean, the names didn't really go out over common media at the time, and maybe he could have been on another side, he absolutely could have fought on a different side, but I remembered the L5 colony that exploded and it all just. Fit together."

"Yes. Sometimes everything fits together." He was rather enjoying the continuity of Wufei's taste in men, the expressiveness of his mouth. "I rather needed a rescue at the time, so as I said, thank you." And if the budding scientist did go into government, a word here, a word there, would smooth the pitfalls that the man wouldn't clear through his 'charming' personality.

"You're, um. Welcome." He took another sip of whiskey. "This is really very good. I wasn't expecting to hear from him, never mind find myself invited to a dinner party. I mean, I did write him, but it was after the news said you were alive. I just wanted to check in, uh... what are you doing?" That question came out in a squeak.

He smiled to himself, hands up to Meredith's neck, untying it with the skill of years of practice. He used a thumb to lift the man's chin. "Your necktie is terribly tied. We can't have you meeting the ESUN president looking rumpled. Otherwise you're quite the looker. I can see what Wufei saw in you. Do you like blondes?"

That look of terror was quite delightful. "Ah, um. I. Yes? Yes. I like blondes. Well, women who are blondes, men I prefer, ah..."

"Treize, you're terrifying him." Wufei's voice came from the doorway, amusement rich in his tone. "Hello, Meredith."

"I'm not terrifying him, I'm fixing his necktie," he responded, finishing doing just that, before he tucked it back into the man's vest. The doorbell rang, so it had been for the best Meredith had been early. "There."

Clearing his throat, Meredith stuttered out a thanks as Wufei turned to stroll toward the door and greet whoever had arrived. "Ah, I see you're..." Blue eyes skimmed up and down him. "Obviously just as charismatic and completely nuts as I've always thought you must be."

"Delighted to confirm your expectations," he chuckled, stepping away to snag his drink. "Come, mingle. Everyone here knows each other, and they're all unique personalities. You'll be fine."

Never mind that he really was rather enjoying that look of horror. It would be impossible not to do so in Treize's opinion. After all, look at him! It was a delight, and he touched Meredith's elbow to prompt him into walking ahead of him.

"Treize, darling!" Dorothy's voice rang out, and she paused. "My my, and who is this delicious morsel?"

"Meredith McKay, ABD, a friend of Wufei's. Meredith, my cousin, President Dorothy Catalonia." Just in time, because he could see Heero Yuy behind her and Wufei and that other, damn, he never had had very good intel on all the pilots.

And Relena. Yes, perhaps it had been a terrible idea, but in for a penny, in for a pound.

Introductions were made, and Quatre and Trowa showed up precisely on time so that the introductions had to be made once again, but eventually everyone was settled with a drink in their hand and trays of canapés on offer. Treize felt strangely proud of himself for having gathered everyone and no one having committed murder as yet.

"So where is it that you're being schooled, Meredith? After all, I think everyone else here has stepped straight into politics or a number of other equally insane fields, so you are quite the novelty." Dorothy's silk cocooned legs slid against one another as she leaned forward, slightly predatory.

“Oxford, ma'am. I, uh, believe proper application of science should be the cornerstone of all advancement, not politics." Ah, he'd unfortunately done himself any number of accidental favors right there by disagreeing with her, and Treize tilted his head. He'd checked that there wasn't lemon to be found in the rest of the dishes, and was satisfied that he wasn't going to cause an early death.

Wufei looked a little worried about Meredith's hopes of survival, but had managed to tuck himself into the love seat with Quatre and was quietly talking about whatever investment they were considering making, so at least they were safe. Trowa and Heero had apparently decided to murmur quietly now and then while Relena and Duo were on their third cocktail. Treize couldn't tell if they were in competition or just hated dinner parties.

It wasn't even that bad; they all knew each other, so he let the natural flow take place, and walked toward Relena and Duo while sipping at his whiskey. He was only slightly less behind them, so perhaps he shouldn't judge. At least they could manage to be the scandalous portion of the party.

When Relena turned toward him, her eyes were bright with the drink. "Treize. It's lovely to see you again. And even more lovely to discover that you were wrong. There is a place for people like you in this peaceful world."

What a delightful _I told you so_.

He snagged a fresh drink -- mint now, the staff were ever so good, and were earning their hefty pay -- and raised it in a toast. "I was rather surprised by that myself. How are you, foreign minister?"

"Delightfully sozzled," she seemed to decide, one hand falling to squeeze Duo's thigh. "Are we both?"

"I still have room for a few more," Duo countered, grinning slightly. "I'm still weirded out, man. You and Wufei. Weird weird weird. But he's all happy and shit, probably because you're both stuffy."

Treize nearly inhaled the cocktail when he laughed.

Relena giggled. "Stuffy. That's what he says about me, too. For some reason, he has issues with the way that I use a knife and fork?"

"Oh good, you can join Quatre and me in feeling terribly prosecuted by this stigma." He took another swig of his drink, watching their faces, watching their eyes. They seemed very happy; it was a shame that Zechs had been too insane ever to have properly embraced his sister. He wondered how many lives could've been saved if the man had just let go, and turned toward something like normalcy.

Duo leaned back against the sofa and smirked. "At least Relena doesn't travel with a full service tea seat. Well, except for that one time, because she was..." An elbow made itself intimately familiar with his side. "Oof, hey!"

He snorted at that reaction. "Yes, I think that's far too much information, though I am very glad to know that you're happy, Relena."

Her mouth was an easy curve and she leaned against Duo, eyes glancing at Heero and then to Wufei and then back at Treize. "I think we all have quite unexpected happiness. That isn't a small thing."

"It isn't. I hope not to ruin it." He was doing his level best and being conniving where necessary, which was perhaps half of why Wufei stayed. He enjoyed the conniving. "I wish your brother had lived to see how you've grown up."

She blinked at him, gaze a little fuzzy. "Me, too, but honestly. I barely remember him. And it's for the best that he... because you know, it doesn't end well. That just doesn't end well. Historically speaking. That ends in regicide and horror and..." Her hand waved. "These drinks were very strong. I like them."

Duo's eyes flared wide, whether he expected her to say that or not, and for a brief moment, Treize leaned in and patted her arm gently. "Good! And you're in safe company with very excellent partners. And you're once again quite right. I hope you continue to stay in politics, we can use more people who're right."

"Possibly," Relena suggested, "or possibly they could use someone who drinks a bit more. Then again, you were in politics, I think they probably have that covered at any given point in time."

"They have that thoroughly covered," he agreed, taking another sip of his cocktail. "I'm afraid that I spent far too much of my tenure stone cold sober."

"We all thought you were the biggest bastard," Duo volunteered, grinning at Relena. "And then, you know. We learned some shit. About what you did behind the scenes. And I sort of want to know, why? I mean on one hand you sent massive deliveries of food and medical aid to L2 in the middle of the war, and on the other hand, your troops showed up and lined the place."

From the least of us come the largest truths. "Best I could do at the time, best I could think of."

Duo's eyes caught him, and maybe he was more sober than he had looked. "So I'm just wondering... if you did that, and I'm not discounting it, honest, I'm not... but if you did all that, why'd you drop that shit on L5?"

"I..." He shifted slightly, tucked his left hand into his pocket as he felt it start to spasm. "Two missions were scheduled on the same day. General Septum of the Alliance launched his nanite attack; separately and unbriefed, I led an OZ mission to attempt to capture the rebellious colony with Leos. We came against resistance as I realized what was coming out of the Alliance dropships. Most of my men retreated quickly enough not to get caught in the drop zone. One self destructed against the Gundam L5 had been building." He bit back the stupid words, the ones where he said 'if they hadn't fought back' because nothing could have gone well that day, even if there hadn't been a cluster of uncoordinated missions. It was knee jerk defensiveness and it made nothing that had happened right. It didn't bring back Wufei's wife.

"Huh." That seemed to be honest surprise. "I'll be damned."

Relena sighed. "That's been bothering him lately. I'm sorry, once he gets an idea in his head, he can't _let it go_ , which we both already told him to do."

"It's quite fine. I have nothing to hide. Knowing what the nanites did and were capable of, it was very easy to have Septum killed. I... did what I could." If one tilted their head sideways, Treize liked to think he was a model of consistency.

And then a servant stepped into the main hallway and rang a bell. "Dinner is served."

Thank god.

Everyone rose, and began to congregate, Wufei coming up to his elbow and touching it easily. "Shall we?"

"Hmn, yes." He liked that touch, comfortable and easy, and perhaps a bit proprietary. The large table that he, Mariemaia and Wufei never used in the formal dining room had been laid out to the fullest; the chandeliers were lit, and it was quite a dramatic scene if he did say so himself. The ensuing commentary certainly made him proud of the effort, proud of his home. He could tell when he looked at Wufei that he was proud of him in particular. 

"Everything looks amazing," Quatre offered, seating himself when he found his place card, Trowa helping to push in his chair.

"The manor had already been well restored, but we've had some people in to do work to improve the finer details." Like the lights and the interior design, the security and the ability of the place to self power. To some degree, it just required interest and time, both of which he had in spades. The staff moved efficiently once everyone was seated, moving around the room asking if they wanted red or white, and offering the entree options to each. 

Meredith looked quite pleased and only slightly in over his head, seated beside Dorothy and across from Wufei.

By the time everyone was settled, it was clear that most of them had enjoyed the cocktails well enough that they were relaxed and able to talk and laugh over dinner. They all knew one another well enough to avoid any sore spots, Meredith aside, and he could certainly throw a wrench in the proceedings, but with everyone ranging from tipsy to quite a bit more than tipsy, it seemed unlikely. 

No one would be harmed by any wrenches, least of all Meredith.

"No, but how do you -- I mean, you all just jumped out of these massive machines, and the torque and g-forces of them are intense, insane! How are any of you even alive? And so short, you're just..." He was gesturing past Dorothy, who was quite sober and deeply amused, at Duo, "So little."

Wufei shrugged. "Not all of us. Trowa's, what, at least 180 centimeters?"

"Thereabouts," Trowa agreed. "It's just Duo who's so short you aren't sure whether to ask him if the weather's different so far down there."

"Hey! I resemble that remark!"

"No, but, does it do something to your spine, to...?" Meredith had a faraway look in his eyes of a man trying to solve a math problem while pleasantly drunk. "I, there's so much we could do with the science of it if everyone wasn't so obsessed with using them to blow each other up."

"We did blow each other up." Heero was forthright about it.

"On all sides. Some of us enlisted with more than one faction." Trowa shrugged broad shoulders.

"I didn't!" Duo declared. "I was pro-colony all the way, even when they weren't pro-me."

Wufei leaned back and rubbed his chin. "I followed my colony's wishes to the end. My clan's wishes." He glanced at Treize, and then his gaze slid away again. Treize could tell precisely what he was thinking.

Beneath the table, Treize slid his left hand over to rest atop the middle of Wufei's thigh, because that was an entirely unnecessary thought. It was good when he felt Wufei's hand placed over his. "I did what I could for Peace," Quatre volunteered, "but I have no regrets for myself or my colony."  
P  
"My colony was kind of shit," Duo said, leaning back in his chair. "But, well, it's got a lot of weird religious things going on and seriously, like, half the population dies out on a regular basis. You have no idea what it's like..."

"I don't," Meredith agreed. "I... what do you need to make it a better place?" It was such a broad question, a man looking for a tool when there were an overwhelming number of factors and parties that intermingled, and yet... sometimes a man looking for a tool meant hope.

Leaning back, Duo looked at Relena. "I... I'm pretty sure you're better equipped to answer that question."

Dorothy sniffed. "Of course Miss Relena is." She turned to look at Meredith. "Power generation, for one thing. It's on the wrong side of the moon and the power requirements are phenomenal."

"Better preventive medical care for another. There are vaccines for most of the diseases ranging free on L2, but some of the cults -- and honestly, they are cults, don't try to pretend they aren't, L2 is the worst place to try diplomacy, do you...."

"Yeah, but it's our cults," Duo sniffed. "And the germ warfare didn't help. It's not like it convinced them to vaccinate more, it just made them pray harder. Well, fuck, that isn't gonna help."

"Ha," Wufei offered. "God with a capital G _sends_ plagues. It occurs to me that if he were a kind and benevolent god who responded to prayer then he probably wouldn't send the plagues in the first place." He looked offended by it.

Meredith waved a hand. "Doesn't exist. So you're saying you need power generation, which, let's be honest, is manageable, and also a plague of atheists."

That was certainly one way to put it.

Duo started to laugh, like he was caught off guard, and then he really started to laugh, sort of an out of control giggle. "Plague of atheists! Hah! Yeah, that's a plague we could use..."

Leaning forward, Dorothy lifted her wine glass. "Treize, darling, you have outdone yourself. The menu is delicious, but the company is utterly delightful."

"And not wrong," Meredith noted. "I'm almost never wrong."

"But when you are wrong, it's truly impressive," Wufei noted. "He doesn't do anything in half-measure."

"I can see why you liked him." He gave Wufei's leg another light squeeze and then put his hand back up where it was in sight of the table, starting to eat again. "And Dorothy, still very glad you could make it."

He was distinctly unsurprised when he saw her hand slide beneath the table and saw Meredith jump. "As if I would miss a dinner party you were giving."

Heero snorted. "You're here out of curiosity like everyone else."

Treize chuckled, eating a bit of bread. "What curiosity?"

It was a bit surprising when the answer came from Trowa. "You're living together, isn't that enough to make someone curious?"

That caught him off guard, rather completely, and he knew that Dorothy probably tucked that memory away into her short collection of instances of him looking flustered. "No, hadn't particularly crossed my mind as strange."

"They were living together in Luxembourg." Well. Perhaps he should thank Heero for dropping bombs during a dinner party. Probably not, because Wufei made a tiny sound and he was flushed when Treize glanced at him.

"This is fascinating," Meredith murmured quietly. "I'm terrible at social interaction sometimes, but this is just." One hand waved. "It's a little like watching a soap opera."

"Holy shit, you were living together in Luxembourg? When the hell did that happen?" Duo sounded completely flabbergasted, and Treize tilted his head a little, guessing that if he came up with an answer it might be easier... or worse. 

"When we built Epyon while I was under house arrest. It was..." He cleared his throat. "Complicated."

"You helped build Epyon?" Chaos. Their dinner party had descended into chaos. "What the..."

Wufei sighed. "I had planned on fighting him again. Or checking to be sure he was actually under safe house arrest. I wanted to understand why he resigned, and he was building Epyon and..."

It was fitting, Treize decided, and leaned back in his chair to gesture for the staff to go around and top off the wine glasses. Rather like Romefeller Foundation events, or anything involving the Catalonias. Christ, yes, Christmas in Brussels that year Dorothy had hit puberty.

"And I am a charming asshole who was very glad to see Wufei again. We used the ZERO system." Which was a bit like saying they dropped acid together, but it would make sense to anyone who'd used it.

"Ahhhh." That was a downright chorus, leaving only Meredith and Relena looking faintly confused.

Duo hummed. "Yeah, okay. Quatre goes nuts and blows up a colony, Wufei goes and gets laid. Seems reasonable. Totally crazy shit you wouldn't do otherwise, you know?"

"The ZERO system is a pilot augmentation technology that provides the user with perfect knowledge in a battle. In a non-battle situation, you can model an infinite number of decisions if you don't pass out from the strain," he explained to Meredith, while looking at Relena.

"Oh," Meredith replied. "I know, I was just wondering why getting laid is contrary to Wufei's normal operating procedure."

"Should I go check on Mariemaia?" Wufei suggested. "Then you can all talk about my preferences openly without me feeling awkward the entire time."

"She's fine," Treize reassured, dropping a hand to Wufei's leg again. She very likely had snuck halfway downstairs, hung out on the steps until everything sounded boring to her, and then given up for the night.

A time honored tradition.

"Given that your connection to reality has at times been esoteric at best, cousin, no one would have ever guessed you'd used ZERO."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Well," Quatre mused, "it's definitely contrary to my normal inclinations for me to destroy an entire colony. And we've spent enough time with you to know that you're... hm, what's the right word?"

"Undersexed?" Duo suggested.

"Choosy?" Dorothy offered simultaneously.

"Have better sense than most of the other people sitting at this table," Trowa murmured.

He felt Wufei's thigh flex, and squeezed in quick response. "Thank you, Trowa. So, that is the short version of how we ended up here." Very short, but very much a one to one path, Treize thought.

Wufei leaned forward. "I like smart passionate people. Very few qualify."

"Choosy," Dorothy agreed. "And that answers so many questions that I had, good heavens."

"Good." Treize ate a bit of the potato, and slowly conversation resumed, though Duo still seemed stunned, carrying on a low conversation with Heero. 

"I'm taking great comfort knowing rich people have as much crazy as everyone else," Meredith remarked, leaning forward a little and catching Wufei's eye. "Hot engineer, crazy project? I would've said yes, too."

That seemed to release the tension a bit because Wufei laughed and leaned forward and raised his wineglass. "What can I say? I have a type." It made Treize want to ask questions about Wufei's wife and his previous lover, but there was a time and a place for everything. This was not it.

Later would be the time and the place for it, another day and another evening.

Dorothy raised her glass and clinked it against Wufei's, while cutting a sideways look at Meredith. "To having a type."

"To having a type." 

From there, the dinner party went fairly smoothly. The fact that there was more than a sufficient amount of wine probably didn't hurt, and by the time everyone had eaten the vanilla & honey crème brûlée for dessert and retired to the parlor for digestifs, Treize was pleased that things had gone reasonably well.

It hadn't crossed his mind at all that it might be considered strange that Wufei was with him, which he supposed was a sign of how insular their life had been. And comfortable. It would come up again, he was sure, so he needed to have a story in his pocket to rattle off that would brook no discussions and invite no questions.

Something to work on.

"Treeeeize," Dorothy sighed. "The food and liquor were all quite excellent, but honestly, now you expect us to go home?"

"Oh, I do." He half embraced her as a prelude to nudging her toward the door. "You'll feel better waking up hung over in your own hotel suite, my dear cousin."

"But Treize..."

Wufei nudged Meredith up beside her. "Aren't you staying at the same hotel? It isn't as if we don't have drivers. No one has to take themselves off, mostly because we're all besotted." Some more than others.

He was personally tipsy but feeling good, even if he might pay for it later in strange ways. He went to the front door and started to arrange rides, coordinate among the staff and Dorothy's security to make sure everyone got back where they were supposed to.

By the time everyone was gone, staff and all, he had completely forgotten about Wufei's plan for blowing him in the main hall. It did spring immediately to mind when he turned and found Wufei on his knees, though, lips parted, eyes sparking mischief.

It was impossible not to smile as he strode up, hands tucked into his pants pockets for a moment as he admired the view. Wufei had been gorgeous all evening, and he only grew more gorgeous every year. Some of his hair was loose from his ponytail after the long night and herding out his friends, and Treize reached down to tuck it behind his ear.

"You're beautiful," Wufei told him, hands working their way up his calves and his thighs. "And smart. And amusing. And conniving. Did you even know Meredith was partial to smart powerful blonde women?"

The slide of hands up the backs of his legs made him shiver and sigh, an odd sensation of relief and togetherness all at once, watching Wufei intently. "I asked him while I was fixing his necktie. I can see why you chose him."

Wufei's face pressed against his thigh as he let out a helpless huff of amusement. "Of course you did. Of course." He pulled back, hands working their way around to his trouser fastenings. "So. Tell me why I chose him."

"He's brilliant, arrogant, and unquestionably still cares about you. I imagine he gave as good as he took." Treize stroked his thumb against the edge of Wufei's jaw. "He looks a little like me."

Turning, Wufei caught Treize's thumb in his mouth and sucked at it, tongue laving across the pad. Exquisite. "Mhm." When he pulled off, he tilted his head. "He does, a bit. And he's brilliant in a fight. Mostly it was how smart he was. Plus it's always difficult to resist a man who knows what to do with a socket wrench." 

"I'll remember that the next time I need to do something to lure you in." He exhaled slowly, letting Wufei take his time, enjoying the anticipation and wanting, and just having Wufei there. "Everyone seemed to have a good evening."

"Mmm, we were all delightfully tipsy. Quatre usually sticks to tea even at this sort of party but, well." Well indeed, and Wufei thumbed open the fastening of his trousers, spreading them out and down so that the opening was v shaped. Fingers caressed over his hips and worked inside to stroke his cock out and upright. "God."

"Fuck." He tipped his head back for a moment, enjoying the feeling of Wufei's fingers molding his dick upright, the change in temperature to the slightly cooler air of the room. "How delightfully tipsy are you right now?"

"Very." Breathed out, and he could feel that warm moist breath on his cock before a tongue followed it, stroking up from the bottom until he'd managed to enclose the head of it and suck, gentle and sweet and easy.

"Mmm, fuck." He cupped the back of Wufei's head gently, mostly for the contact, to feel him. "That's perfect." His nerves felt strung tight with arousal, watching the way Wufei's lips pulled tight around his dick. He found himself looking down and watching him, and he wasn't surprised that Wufei was looking right back. His hair was soft and silky beneath Treize's fingers and the hands on his hips guided him, pulled him in, held him close so that every stroke of his mouth was in time, still the same heated sweetness with every stroke. Slow and gentle and building with a lazy ease. He didn't dare thrust or move unguided because that was just rude, and he liked taking, having, what Wufei let him have just then, enough sensation to make everything ache.  
To  
The slide of his tongue against the lower side made him shudder, and Wufei obviously saw it and delighted in it, taking him deeper and then deeper, almost choking before lazily pulling back and doing it again, and again, and again, always with that tongue working at him, his fingers tight near the base and tugging slowly. There was no hiding the moan he gave around it or the way his brows knit together, eyes closing before opening again, bleary with pleasure and heat.

Treize wanted Wufei, badly, right then and there, and he eased his hips back a little to see if Wufei would let him. "I want to have you right here."

His lips were swollen, deep carmine, and his smile spread lazily. "Then have me."

He stepped back, and tugged Wufei up to his feet. Treize kissed him first, before he started to back Wufei up to the dining room table, intent on fucking him right over it. "I love you."

And if he hadn't thought he was getting laid before, he knew he was getting laid then because Wufei was wrapped around him, head tilted back, kissing him like the world could end and he'd stay right there, kissing him and waiting for it. "I said it first," he announced breathlessly, and his fingers were working at the buttons on Treize's vest, trying to get him undressed as quickly as possible.

"Hmn, you did. You did." He let Wufei fuss with buttons, and instead checked Wufei's decorative watch pocket for, yes, a little rip open pack of lube.

"I had plans," Wufei offered, kissing him again, and again, and now he was working at his own trousers, getting them open, getting the buttons at his throat undone, his hands seemed to be everywhere.

"Let me." He twisted a little, pivoted Wufei so that he was caught between Treize and the edge of the table, and then he batted Wufei's hands gently aside. "Please, let me."

With that, Wufei relaxed, hands falling to his side as he relaxed back against Treize, head on his shoulder. "I'm yours to do with as you wish." Extravagantly spoken, perhaps even with a tiny edge of sarcasm, but the words themselves weren't nearly so important as the way Wufei closed his eyes, smile curved sweetly, the entirety of him entrusted to Treize's hands.

He enjoyed that in ways he couldn't quite describe, sliding his fingers over Wufei's vest to finish with the buttons and then starting with the buttons of his shirt, taking his time. The heat of his back pressed against Treize's front, still clothed ass against his dick, it was perfect. Exquisite, and when he managed to get the shirt open, he allowed his fingers to stroke up Wufei's belly and find his nipples. One thumb rubbed gently over the left even as his right thumb and forefinger pinched, making Wufei gasp and push his ass back against Treize's cock.

"I could hold you like this forever." He rolled that nipple gently, loosening the pinch, and used his left hand to push down Wufei's slacks.

"Yes!" Yes, he could, yes to whatever he had planned, just yes, Treize knew. "God, that's so... just... yes. Yes to anything you want." Which was always exquisite to hear. The head against his shoulder was perfect, the way Wufei pushed back was perfect, even if it took work to slide his slacks down to his knees, and then to do the same his underwear. "Tell me." His voice was low, throaty. "Tell me what you're going to do to me and then do it, do it, make me... ngh!"

"I'm going to fuck you right here, so the next time everyone is here, you won't be able to think of anything else." He used his knee to nudge Wufei's legs open a little, and slowly leaned forward to bend Wufei down over the table.

He went easily, sprawled over the beautifully rich finish, left cheek against the wood, watching Treize over his right shoulder. His mouth was open, breaths shakily spilling out, a hand curled up by his head as he watched him. "Please." 

The little tube of lube was fiddly, but he managed to slick two fingers of his right hand, stroking Wufei's side with his left as he teased his hole. "You're my undoing. Regularly."

Tiny rocks of his hips were pressing back hopefully, Wufei beginning to shiver. "I want to be your undoing until I die, and maybe even after that." Probably even after that, and Treize didn't miss that he was rubbing his prick against the table, that his fingers were probably pinching at his own nipples.

He was going to double down on working out how to fix his left hand soon just so both were reliable and useful to him in sex. He missed that, missed being more useful, from feeling more easily, but he felt the right heat while he slipped two fingers in just a little, and found it easy. He chuckled. "You got yourself ready for me..."

Wufei was gasping, pushing back to him already, his head nodding frantically for a moment against the table, and then Treize pushed in a third finger quickly and he cried out, obviously barely restraining himself. "I, I wa-wanted, I was... fuuuuuck." Fuck and oh, yes, he had done a thorough job.

"I wish I'd known you were in the bathroom fingering your ass, I could have disappeared to help." Been a completely ungracious host, he loved the mental image as he turned his fingers gently, stretching Wufei. Every easy movement of his fingers was met with a rocking of Wufei's hips and a gasp, his thighs parted wide to let Treize do whatever he wanted.

"Nnngh, w-wanted to surpri-- ah!" Ahh, there, that was just the spot.

He nudged at Wufei's pants, knocked them down further, and curled his fingers just right to hit it again. "Maybe I should just keep you like this and finger fuck you until you come."

The push of his hips had gotten more obvious, and Treize could tell from the flush on his face and the way his mouth was open on helpless noises that he was close. He could indeed do just that and he didn't think Wufei would care one bit. "G-gonna fuck me after if you do?" Slurred question, but he was definitely enjoying himself immensely.

"I think I'd rather feel you getting off." He gave one last press, and eased out his fingers before fumbling for a moment with the packet of lube he had in his own pocket -- it was really no wonder that the clerks at the grocery store gave them side eye -- to slick over his dick. He could see the way Wufei's hole winked, flexing in what could only be called invitation. His hips were still rocking, pressing against the table, offering his ass to Treize when it pressed away again. His eyes were closed, and then they opened, and there was fire there, need and want and a demand. Treize wasn't going to deny him. He positioned his hips, used his hand to steady himself, and started a slow push, watching Wufei's face.

It was always beautiful to watch him, to see his brows draw together and his mouth drop open, to feel the tight clench of him around his cock. Beautiful to feel him when he started to push his hips back, wanting more of him even if he still hadn't adjusted to the girth of it just yet.

"Fuck." It was a whimper, but it was the kind that Treize knew meant _more._ In noise, hold still sounded different, less deep and throaty, less hungry for it, so he pushed slowly, gently forward, slipping his right hand between Wufei's body and the table to grasp his cock. "Fuck!" Raw and raspy now, a little louder than it should be maybe, but that was a sound he loved to hear, loved when he was the root cause of it, and Wufei was giving it to him, offering it, and he was steadily pushing back and riding him as well as he could from being pinned to the dining room table. "Please. Please, fuck, please."

He leaned in, eased his hips back, and then slowly started to rock forward. It was a counterpoint to Wufei's excited rocking, but he still didn't dare move with reckless speed. Not yet, no matter how badly Wufei wanted it. Better to go slow at first, let him adjust better and push in slowly. He could always tell when they'd gone too quickly because Wufei would spend a day balancing his weight on a single hip. He never seemed to regret it and he was fairly certain that he wouldn't regret it tomorrow if Treize didn't take his time, but Treize preferred to go slow all the same. He preferred Wufei to be comfortable, and it all felt good, slow, fast, careful, reckless. He bent, kissed the back of Wufei's neck, and made him slow down just a little.

"God," he said finally. "You feel..." He panted, shivered. "You feel so thick, so hot, and I want, I want everything. I want it all."

Treize pressed one last kiss against the back of Wufei's neck, and leaned back up, giving a slow rock of his hips backward. "I kept imagining what you would look like with Meredith, if you begged him for more, and I hope he gave it to you..."

It earned him a breathless laugh. "Nobody ever gave it as good as you," he promised. "But yeah. Yeah, he was good, generous in bed, and god, that mouth." He gasped as Treize pushed in again, a little deeper. "Oh, oh, oh god, yes, please, I..."

He flexed his left hand on Wufei's hip, a gentle clutch, and gave his dick a smooth steady stroke in the tight space between Wufei's body and the surface of the table. Then he eased back out, inhaling and just savoring Wufei's every move and clutch and _sound_.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, fuck, fuck..." Ahh, there, he was all the way in now, and Wufei was down to nothing but little interjections and noises, clenching around him and panting, and anyone who didn't know better would be questioning whether that expression on his face was pain or pleasure, but Treize knew. He knew it intimately, had known it since AC 195, hoped he would know it even when he was an old man.

Pleasure just before it hit pain was the best sensation in the world, when everything was bright and the senses went crazy, and all he could do was move to keep Wufei there, to fuck him steady and slow and stroke his dick smoothly enough to just keep him there on the edge for Treize's enjoyment. Fucked out over the formal dining table.

"I want to come." It was a whimper, a request, not a demand. "I want to come, I want to come on your cock, let me come, let me come, let me..." Clenching tight around him, holding mostly still, hips barely a squirm, just taking what Treize gave him and pleading so prettily.

He let himself move a little faster, fucking into Wufei in short shallow strokes, starting to move his slicked fingers down the length of Wufei's dick more insistently. He just needed to relax a little, let go, not so much that he'd hurt Wufei, just enough to fall into it, to lose himself in the rhythm. The sounds, god, the sounds, he'd be able to hear it for days, think about it in the afternoon, worship the tight clutch of his ass in his mind, and in short order, Wufei cried out, coming slick over Treize's fingers and the table, clenching around his prick, tight and delicious.

The clench always took him over the edge, took his breath away while he rocked a little more recklessly into Wufei, eyes closed tight when he came. His hands gave up playing along, and the burst of sensation and color and feeling left him weak in the knees.

"Fuck," Wufei croaked a little later, still sweaty against the table, limp, but the open mouth, the flushed cheeks, and the lidded eyes made it clear he was satiated. "You've killed me. Death by fabulous cock."

"Mmm." He palmed Wufei's stomach, fingers spread and slick with semen, and eased his hips back slowly. Treize could feel him breathing, every little motion against his spread hand, the press of Wufei's back against his chest. It was his favourite feeling in the world, catching his breath like that, feeling Wufei so intimately, almost closer than skin. Wufei's back was sweaty, shirt and vest rucked up to his shoulders. Everything was going to end up at the cleaners'. "Let's get you to bed."

"Let's get us both to bed," Wufei agreed, moaning a little when Treize pulled out. "God, that's... hmmm. You know, most people wouldn't find the idea of their partner getting screwed by someone else that hot." He rolled over and leaned up, and yes, there was that hip balance. "And that was absolutely very hot."

He leaned down to kiss Wufei, to kiss him and to steady himself while he pulled Wufei down from the table. He threw a napkin over the mess, and would come down and fix it in the morning before the cleaning staff arrived because that was just uncalled for. But later. "I found it very hot. Any idea of you enjoying yourself... is very appealing."

"Wasn't lying, though." His fingers reached and stroked Treize's jaw, leaning up to steal a kiss. "No one has ever fucked me as well as you."

"Oh, I didn't doubt you," Treize chuckled, giving Wufei a teasingly arrogant wink. "But the occasional reminder keeps me from getting lazy about it." If Mariemaia hadn't been living in the house, he wasn't sure he even would've tried to mount the stairs, half dressed or not. It was sort of a great night to pass out on the sofa.

"C'mon. Let's go brush our teeth and collapse." He was still a little tipsy, and it was clear, but he was steady enough to draw Treize with him.

It had been a very good night.


End file.
